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Minutes, 27 May 1843

Source Note

, Minutes, [, Hancock Co., IL], 27 May 1843; handwriting of ; five pages; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 1840–1844, CHL. Includes dockets.
Two bifolia, each measuring 12⅛ × 7⅝ inches (31 × 19 cm). The rectos of the first and second leaves of the first bifolium appear to be ruled with thirty-five horizontal blue lines; the versos of the first and second leaves of the first bifolium appear to be ruled with thirty-seven horizontal blue lines. The recto of the first leaf of the second bifolium is ruled with thirty-six horizontal blue lines. Ruling in the two bifolia is now faded. The minutes of this meeting were written on all pages of the first bifolium and on the recto of the first leaf of the second bifolium. went back through the minutes after their initial inscription, correcting some words and adding pagination. The verso of the first leaf of the second bifolium and the recto of the second leaf of the second bifolium contain minutes of additional meetings of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The bifolia were folded in half twice horizontally for filing.
, who served as clerk of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from October 1840 until his death in March 1854, presumably retained the minutes in his possession after inscribing them, and they were likely among the “Minutes of the Twelve 1840 to 1844” listed on an 1846 inventory of the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department). The document was docketed by Richards and by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. In 1986, the minutes of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the 1840s were transferred from the Church Historical Department (later Church History Department) to the Office of the First Presidency. In 2008, this collection of minutes was returned to the Church History Department (now CHL).

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 8 Oct. 1840; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  3. [3]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 1840–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 27 May 1843, JS attended an afternoon meeting of the in , Illinois, to discuss a letter had written to JS about , the former of the . Armstrong’s letter was one of at least three sent to JS in 1843 by Philadelphia branch members complaining about Winchester and his conduct. In February 1843, , the branch’s presiding elder, wrote to JS that Winchester was a “secret spring” who inserted himself into branch business when he was not wanted and who needed to be removed so that the branch could prosper in “majesty and streng[t]h.” On 23 April 1843, , another Philadelphia branch member, wrote to JS and the Nauvoo that Winchester was “under the influense of the evil one” and had tried to destroy her character. “Winchester will continue to injure my reputation every where he goes,” she declared. In a 1 May 1843 letter, Armstrong claimed that Winchester had slandered her and “mutilated” her character. She asked for “redress at the hands of the ” and for justice “for the deepest wrongs inflicted without the slightest provction [provocation].” She also requested that JS submit her letter to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who had authority over the branches of the church outside of Nauvoo. The considered the letter at a 23 May 1843 meeting and decided to discuss it further at a later meeting to which various individuals with knowledge of Winchester’s actions could be invited.
The meeting to address 's concerns was held on 27 May and was attended by JS, , , , and other church members, including , who had been preaching in when some of the difficulties between and occurred. Winchester, who was also present, spent the first part of the meeting explaining rumors he had heard about Armstrong, implying that she was a drunkard and had loose morals, before JS called for order and chastised Winchester for his conduct. The letters from Hess and were then read, and the apostles ultimately revoked Winchester’s preaching and ordered him and his family to move to . Thereafter, JS instructed the apostles on their responsibilities when trying church members. JS and the apostles also conducted some additional business, which included withdrawing the ’s license of Adams, who had been accused of adultery. The apostles assigned a few elders to preach in various locations, and was blessed before the meeting adjourned.
took the minutes of the meeting. also provided a summary of the meeting in his journal. Because Woodruff was not the official minute taker of the meeting and provided only a summary of it, only Richards’s minutes are featured here. However, Woodruff captured JS’s instructions to the Twelve on their duties, and his account of that discourse is featured here as well.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Sybella McMinn Armstrong, 1 May 1843.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Peter Hess, 16 Feb. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Letter from Eliza Lowry Nicholson, 23 Apr. 1843.

  4. [4]

    Letter from Sybella McMinn Armstrong, 1 May 1843.

  5. [5]

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 23 May 1843.

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 27 May 1843; Letter from Peter Hess, 16 Feb. 1843. Winchester and his family relocated to Nauvoo by November 1843. (JS et al., Memorial to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, p. 14, Record Group 46, Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives, Washington DC.)

  7. [7]

    See Letter from Caroline Youngs Adams, ca. 15 Jan. 1843; Historical Introduction to Resolutions of the Boston Conference, 12 Mar. 1843; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Austin Cowles, 13 Mar. 1843.

  8. [8]

    Woodruff, Journal, 27 May 1843.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Minutes, 27 May 1843
Minutes, 27 May 1843, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff History Draft [1 March–31 December 1843] History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

Saturday, May 27th 1843. The assembled in council, according to adjourment 2. o clock P, M. Present , ; . . & — also, Joseph Smith, <​& ​>, and others— Paryer by . after Singing
stated the object of the meeting. was to investigate a letter from Sybbella [Sybella McMinn] Armstrong of concern[in]g — and other business—
The Letter was then read. Dated May 1st. 1843, charging & Stating that had been slandering hear her character,
stated that he was not fully prepared to investigate the merits of the letter in full as had but just learned the contents therof, that sybbella was generelly spoken of by the in an—
Capt— of steamboats & others— on the ohieo— told him she had been seen drunk in the streets &c.— had often spoke of her in conversation as having heard such things. I have made the. obsevation I did not beleive they were all right.
, I bo[a]rded with she told long stories <​to my wife​> about Sabbella Armstng.— faild for $20 000, did not know how she got so much money.
. last winter,— at my house, her house was run down with bills of merctile making &c &c &c. Mc Niners girls.—
A person. a respcable [respectable] Dr Miller, know any thing about Sybella Armstrong,— just before she went away I was calld to see her, & I pronuced [pronounced] [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 27 May 1843
ID #
12026
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:343–350
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Adams was a church member and judge in Springfield, Illinois. He was ordained a patriarch in July 1841 and had been in Nauvoo since 21 May. (JS, Journal, 21 and 27 May 1843; General Church Recorder, License Record Book, 85.)

  2. [2]

    According to JS's journal, some of the others in attendance were Emma Smith, George J. Adams, another Adams (probably either George’s wife, Caroline Youngs Adams, or James Adams’s wife, Harriet Denton Adams), and a Jarman (probably either William Guy Jarman, a member of the New York City branch, or his wife). (JS, Journal, 27 May 1843; Minutes, New York City, NY, 29 Nov. 1841, in Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1842, 3:765; Philadelphia, PA, Council Minutes, 21–22 Apr. 1843, General Ecclesiastical Court Trials, CHL.)

    General Ecclesiastical Court Trials 1832–1963. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Letter from Sybella McMinn Armstrong, 1 May 1843. According to William Clayton, when JS received Armstrong's letter on 22 May, he gave it to Richards and said, “The Twelve ought to silence Winchester.” (Clayton, Journal, 22 May 1843.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  4. [4]

    Armstrong stated in her letter that Winchester had “basicly Sla[n]dered [her] Charctar in Phila time oft and again” by calling her, among other things, a “str[u]mpet” and someone who obtained her “livi[n]g by plucking the Public!” (Letter from Sybella McMinn Armstrong, 1 May 1843.)

  5. [5]

    According to Armstrong, Winchester told people that she “was kno[w]n to all the Capta[i]ns on the Ohio and Missippie [Mississippi] Rivers.” (Letter from Sybella McMinn Armstrong, 1 May 1843.)

  6. [6]

    Winchester married Mary Hannah Stone on 25 February 1840. (Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, 543.)

    Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1891.

  7. [7]

    It is not clear what the reference to “Mc Niners girls” means here. Armstrong's maiden name was McMinn and she lived at the same address as Margaret McMinn, her sister, and Mary Dull McMinn, her mother, so it is possible that Richards misheard or miswrote what was said. (Philadelphia Branch Membership Record, 8–9, 26–27; Fairbanks, Emma Willard and Her Pupils, 209; Death Certificate for Margaret W. Johnson, 5 Aug. 1910, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., UT, certificate 1062, Utah Death Certificates, 1904–1951, microfilm 2,229,324, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    Philadelphia Branch Membership Record. Verso of Philadelphia, PA, Minutes and Records, 1840–1854. CCLA.

    Fairbanks, A. W. Emma Willard and Her Pupils, or Fifty Years of Troy Female Seminary, 1822–1872. New York: Mrs. Russell Sage, 1898.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

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